São Paulo – Banana trees inside palaces, paint with crystals and 50-square-meter bathrooms. These are some of the projects coming into the offices of the Brazilian Vincenzo Visciglia (37), in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. An architect and designer, this native of the Brazilian city of Tatuí left Brazil at age 15 to live in Miami, in the United States, before moving to Dubai, three years ago, and from there to neighbouring Abu Dhabi . A project for his partner’s brother’s house opened doors to orders from sheikhs and businessmen. Now, the architect is preparing to open an office in São Paulo, albeit not abandoning the Arabs.
"I started working at a company that plans hospitals, and three years ago I travelled to develop a project in Dubai. Three months after I came to town, the company’s local partner invited me to open an office with him. I accepted. I designed the recreation area at the house of my partner’s brother’s, a cabinet minister. He receives many visitors who showed interest in my work," says the architect.
Since then, Visciglia and his partner, engineer Said Al Jabri, started developing projects in homes and businesses. For café network PappaRoti, which has franchises in Asia and the Middle East, Visciglia designed the interior of shops and the "branding" (the set of the company’s brands, such as the layout, colour schemes and object design). Only he designs the new franchise shops.
Last year, the designer opened Aavva, a sewing workshop to supply the desires of Arab women and men. "I try to put a little design in these clothes," he explains. In October, Aavva will attend the fashion week in Dubai. Over the next three months, he will step into the kitchen and open two restaurants with Italian and Brazilian cuisine in Abu Dhabi, where he lives. One will be in Masdar City, a sustainable area in the capital of the Emirates. The other will be on Yas Island, home to the Formula 1 track in the city.
"We will offer Brazilian appetizers, rice and beans, and will also offer Arab dishes as made by Brazilians. We will offer safihas made like in Brazil, baked kibbeh, tabbouleh, hummus and curds. The restaurant will also offer pasta and Italian pizzas," said Visciglia regarding the cuisine at "Samba Pasta".
Chic & tacky
None of these plans, however, will take over from Visciglia’s everyday work at Power Design, the company that designs homes and interiors that he established with his partner. On the contrary. Currently, Visciglia is designing parts of the house of one of the sons of the ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and a summer home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Complying with the wishes of the Arabs, says Visciglia, forced him to "adapt" his projects.
"He was not used to planning bathrooms covering 50m² of living space or rooms covering 100m². So, I had to adjust. It was also not used to working so much with palaces, as is the case with one in Sharjah [another of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates]. When a property has more over 30 rooms, it is a palace, not a mansion." Apart from planning the insides of giant rooms, Visciglia has had to meet unusual wishes by customers.
"In the project for the holiday house in Jeddah, the client asked me to design a garden with a banana tree, a date tree and a peach tree in it. In another, in Abu Dhabi, I will use paint containing Swarovski crystals on the walls. Each litre of this paint costs US$ 1,400, and a litre is enough to cover 4m². They love luxury, gold-plated furniture. Sometimes the luxury becomes tacky. "
Visciglia said that although they like to decorate their houses or palaces with luxurious and expensive products, the "VIP" Arabs know the value of money. "They take money seriously. They are well informed and know the value of things. When I develop a budget, I make it clear to them how much of that budget is design, material, what I make. I am realistic and they know that I am not increasing the value, charging triple the price. "
The Brazilian architect believes that this is one of the reasons that lead him to be invited to develop Arab palace projects. "They deal with many professionals who do not keep their promises or abandon projects. I continue until the end, to put the last frame on the wall. They like professionals who are honest. If they trust you, they will always call on you to work on their projects," he said. In his projects, the Brazilian bets on creativity and on the materials available in the region.
Way back
Visciglia is now getting ready to land in Sao Paulo. "I have clients who want to invest in Brazil. One from Saudi Arabia, for example, has an investment fund," he said. Eyeing these customers and Brazilians wishing to invest in the Middle East, the architect will open an office in São Paulo. "I am going to Brazil later this month to look for a property." The office will help his clients to settle in the country, and vice versa, and should also develop projects for them, but the base for the projects will continue in Abu Dhabi.
*Translated by Mark Ament
